Another Set of Cool Moving Cards!

Here's the third set of cards I made for the awesome UStamp with Dawn and Friends event going on now!

The award on the DAD card is a real award that Dad can wear on Father's Day! The graduation cap card pops up and has a spot for a gift card!

How fun it that! To get the tutorial come join us for the Card with Cool Moves event at UStamp with Dawn and Friends!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Cool Cards With Cool Moves!

I was so excited to be asked to join another UStamp with Dawn and Friends event! The theme this time...Cards With Cool Moves. This was super fun for me as I haven't made many cards with all the fun action going on. 

This was my first set. I knew I wanted to have the sun pop up from behind the clouds. Love how it turned out!

This was set number two. I loved my punch art love bug so I wanted to figure out a way to make it pop off the card. Awesome!!

So be sure to head over to UStamp with Dawn and Friends to sign up and join us for the Cards With Cool Moves to get the tutorials for these and many, many more!! Click here > Cards With Cool Moves.

Thanks for stopping by my blog! I hope you are enjoying spring and have a wonderful Easter!

Comfort & Joy

If I keep this up I'm going to actually have Christmas cards to send out this year! Everyone would get a different kind of card, but that's fine, right?

This week at Hand Stamped Sentiments the technique challenge is using the bargello technique.

You cut strips of paper and off set them to create a new design. To create my background I cut strips from Designer Series Paper with diagonal stripes. I cut a few strips from the side, then from the bottom of the paper. Then I lined them up to create a sort of chevron pattern with the stripes. Super simple, but really cool!
Be sure to visit Hand Stamped Sentiments to see more great creations from the design team! I hope you'll accept the challenge and they the bargello technique this week, then share your work with us!

Thanks for visiting the little blue room!

Season's Greetings

I went grocery shopping the other day and Christmas decorations were everywhere. Christmas music was playing over the speakers. It really got me excited for Christmas and in the perfect mood to make this Christmas card.

 This week's challenge over on Hand Stamped Sentiments is to go overboard and create a Christmas card that is over the top! A card decked out with lots of layers, bling, and details!

And I did just that! I even created my own doily using the scallop die and the crop-a-dile to create the holes. Then I ran it through the big shot with an embossing folder to give it some texture. I love how it turned out!

Head over to Hand Stamped Sentiments to see all the other wonderful examples by the designers. Then go overboard on a Christmas card and join us for the challenge this week!






P.S. Believe it or not I posted twice today so be sure to check out my Matryoshka Doll.

A Simple Noel

You've heard of KISS, right? Keep It Simple Silly. Well, I've been reminded of that thousands of times because I never seem to be able to keep things simple. My husband and my sister are always giving me a hard time about this. I usually go overboard in everything I do, but not this time. I actually made something simple, and I like it! I even tried adding more stuff but took it off because I liked it simple.

If I were going to actually, really hand-make Christmas cards that actually, really made it into the mail box this would be the one. It literally took me less than a minute to put this together! A little trick on ruffling the ribbon...add adhesive directly to the card stock then scrunch and press. All done.

My color combo came from the color challenge this week on Hand Stamped Sentiments.

With Halloween in the rear-view mirror and Thanksgiving at the next exit Christmas is just around the corner. Time to get a head start on all the fun holiday projects!
Head over to Hand Stamped Sentiments for more inspiration and I hope you'll share some of your creativity with us this week, too!

Thanks for stopping by. Hope you have a wonderful week!

A Thank You Card...For A Guy

I wanted to make a thank you card for a guy. I had no idea how tough that was going to be. I couldn't add ribbon or flowers or butterflies. It was like making a card with my hands tied behind my back! Searching for some inspiration I went over to Hand Stamp Sentiments to check out the challenge this week. It's a color challenge using Cherry Cobbler, Pumpkin Pie, and Night of Navy.

I thought these colors would work great on a card for a guy. It ended up being a super simple card using this cute little guy with his megaphone from the hostess stamp set Ain't Love Grand. I used my Blender Pens to color the image.

If you have some crafty time this weekend, you should head over to Hand Stamped Sentiments and play along with the challenge!

Feeling a Little Like the Mad Hatter

I was feeling a little like the mad hatter at the tea party today stamping with this adorable polka dot teacup and setting up my daughter's cute little polka dot tea set (which I had to use in the photos with the teacup stamp because they were simply made for each other.)

My almost 5 year old daughter loves "Hatter Matter"...the Mad Hatter from the most recent Alice in Wonderland. I have been thinking of what theme to use for her 5th birthday party and we've decided on a Wonderland theme. Including a tea party, of course. I think I'll be using the teacup stamp on invites and other items for the party. Can't wait!

Enough rambling, onto the craftiness I created in the little blue room today.

I am seriously becoming addicted to the tiny little clothes pins. They add such a charming 3D touch.

After finishing up the card I thought, since it is a "feel better" card, that it would be nice to give something that may actually help the recipient feel better. Being a tea cup, I wanted to give a few packages of herbal tea.

I used 2 Stampin' Up! Sizzix Scallop Envelopes to create the box and embellished it to match the card. It is just the right size to hold two Celestial Seasonings tea bags. A little something to soothe the body and soul.

The color combination I used today came from the color challenge over on colourQ...Regal Rose, Wild Wasabi, Tempting Turquoise, Early Espresso, and Whisper White.

Thanks for visiting. I hope everyone was able to enjoy the weekend.

Want to learn how to make these? I'd love to show you how. Host a Stampin' Up! party and I'll come to your home and demonstrate for you and your friends how to make this or another creative project. Email me to set up your next Stampin' Up! party.

You can also order the items you need to create this project online. Remember to select Rachel Ricks as your Demonstrator and get the preferred price. Thanks!

Shopping List ~

Paper:

Early Expresso Card Stock

Temping Turquoise Card Stock

Wild Wasabi Card Stock

Whisper White Card Stock

Regal Rose Designer Series Paper

Ink:

Wild Wasabi

Regal Rose

Stamp Sets:

Tiny Teacup

Word Play - "feel better soon"

Punch:

Boho Blossoms

Big Shot:

Bigz Scallop Envelope

Clearlits Scallop Rectangle

Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder

Accessories:

Jewels Basic Pearls

Tiny Clothes Pin (not SU!)

Embroidery Floss (not SU!)

Happy

I'm so happy with how this card turned out. I made it for a friend who is expecting her 8th little one. Yep, eighth. She found out yesterday they are blessed with another boy which will make 4 girls and 4 boys. How fun. It is so cute I don't want to give it away. :)



I used more punched art. I designed the little baby onesie all on my own! It's my very first circle card and I'm in love.

Well, I've got to get back to getting everything ready for Stamp Club at my place tonight. Thanks for taking a look.

Punch a Bunch Preview

For our Stamp Club meeting we wanted to keep it simple, so we decided on a "Punch a Bunch." Everyone brings punches and paper and we just punch a bunch. Well, I couldn't leave it that simple, no, not me. I spent yesterday evening searching the world {wide web} over for ideas using punches. Thanks to the super creative people who share there ideas, I was able to find some wonderful punch projects for our Stamp Club meeting this Thursday. We won't be able to make them all, but I wanted to make a few examples of how you can use punch art. Here are a few examples I made last night.

I seriously jumped up and down at the cuteness of this little guy! He so simple to make. We will definitely be making him at Stamp Club.

This car is my next favorite. It was a little more difficult because I didn't have all of the punches needed, but I made it work with what I had. I felt so clever when I had the idea to use the extra large eyelets and yellow rhinestone brads for the headlights!

I had seen the traffic light made out of punches before but thought I'd never use it on anything. I found this card and decided to try it out. I think it turned out pretty darn cute.

I had so much fun playing with punches. I can't wait to share these projects with my Stamp Club ladies!

If you have some fun punch ideas, please, share them in the comments.

Thanks for visitng. Hope you were inspired to grab those punches and make something creative.

Stamp Club Creations April

We made a flower pot pocket card. A fun way to give mom flowers on Mother's Day and these flowers never wilt! You can write a note on the inside plus a gift card fits perfectly.

With our scraps we made a cute card that works for any occasion.

There are a few openings in our Stamp Club group. If you are interested in joining, let me know and I'll get you all the details.

Stampin' Up Supplies Used...

Paper:

Kraft and Whisper White cardstock

designer paper from Sale-a-bration 2009

Ink:

Bashful Blue

Certainly Celery

So Saffron

Basic Black

Chocolate Chip

Stamps:

Well Scripted

Great Friend

Fundamental Phrases

Punches:

5 petal flower
Boho Blossoms
Large Oval
Scallop Square
Pinking Hearts border

Big Shot Dies:
Little Leaves
Beautiful Wings

Cute Cards and a Cute Case, Too!

I'm not usually a card maker but when I saw something similar to this by Lauren Meader I had to try it with Stampin' Up stamps from the Cheep Talk stamp set(#113204) and I have to say I am really excited at how well it turned out!





I made a matching card case to hold a set of cards and envelopes. A perfect card set to write a quick note for any occasion. I think this card set would also make a nice gift. So, that being said, who wants to win this card set? All you have to do is leave a comment to enter in a drawing for a chance to win a set of 5 cards tucked inside the cute card case!



I used Melon Mambo textured cardstock, Whisper White cardstock, and Certainly Celery cardstock. I also used Melon Mambo and Certainly Celery ink. In the center of the flower on the card case I used a Kiwi Kiss corduroy brad.

Sometime very soon I will be offering templates, such as the card case, for a low price. Something you can purchase once and use again and again!

Don't forget to leave a comment for your chance to win the card set! You have until next Friday morning, then I'll post the winner of the drawing that evening.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Make & Take Monday

I usually don't make many cards but the stair step cards really caught my eye. I love the layers.



Stair Step Card
1) Cut your cardstock to the size of 10.5 X 5.0 If you plan to stamp your background, now would be the time to do it. I did not stamp on this one.
2) Score your cardstock at 1.25" - 2.5" - 4.25", 6" and at 8.25"
3) Fold accordion style making sure that the smallest (1.25" fold) is folded down, as this will be the front of your card.
4) Now here's the fun part...DECORATE... use punches, die cuts, stickers...whatever, just have fun with it!
Since this is my first one I kept the decorating simple.

I made the back panel taller than the last panel usually is and attached it to create a background scene. It isn't necessary but I liked it on this.
I used Kraft cardstock as the road.
I used the Loads of Love stamp set(item #115033) for the truck and filled the back with a load of hearts.





I also used the Heart to Heart punch(item #133694) which is on sale this week for only $10.99 instead of $15.95. What a great deal!

Here I used the smallest hearts and attached them with a drop of Crystal Effects(item #101055) to the wire.



I also used the largest heart and a tiny heart around the sentiment.



This was easy and fun to create. I look forwad to making more scenes with other stamps sets and themes. This would even make a cute photo card adding the photo to the last panel.

I hope you enjoyed the make and take today. If you have any questions let me know, I'm happy to help. I promise to be better and actually get these posted earlier in the day on Mondays. Our kids start back to school in 2 weeks so after they start back I should have more time to get things posted.

I'd love to see your stair step cards. To share them with us include a link to a photo of your card in the comments.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week.

Oops, just realized I didn't take a photo of the card folded together. I'll have to take a photo tomorrow and share it with you. :)

More Watermelons...

Another watermelon themed post. My sister is looking for watermelon themed invites that are cute, simple, and quick to make for my nephew's birthday. I discovered I have not one invitation stamp set! I will be ordering Introducing (114443) as soon as possible. At only $15.95 it's just right for all invitation, baby announcement, and wedding announcement needs.



Here are a couple examples I played around with today.



The square card is a 3"x3" square card. You can make any size square, this is just a quick example of an idea bouncing around in my head.

I really like how the scallop half circle card turned out. This card is super easy to create using Circle Scissors Plus (112530) and the Big Shot Circle Scallop die (113468).

I used one of my all time favorite background stamps Polka Dot (on the dormant list but still available to purchase-109276) on the Riding Hood Red cardstock to give it a watermelon-y feel.

If you have any cute watermelon themed ideas I'd love to see them. Just post a link in the comments.

Thanks for dropping by.

Two More Cards...

I made these cards as a "thank you" to 2 of my customers who are holding a catalog party through me. I hope they enjoy them.

I used the Delicate Dots Designer Series Paper, the stamp set Polka Dot Punches, and the Certainly Celery ribbon that you can receive free for a limited time during the Sale-a-bration on this card.



On this card, I used one of my favorite new sets, Cheep Talk. The bird is so cute! And it matches the chipboard So Tweet and the Good Morning Sunshine paper pack. Love it all! Check them out here:
Cheep Talk
So Tweet
Good Morning Sunshine
I'm really fond of the colors in the Delicate Dots paper you can earn during the Sale-a-bration. The colors just scream SPRING! Making my case of spring fever even more unbearable, lol. I'm really being drawn to these papers and colors, so I used more of the Delicate Dots paper on this card. I stamped the adorable bird exclaiming my thanks in So Saffron. Then I made a tiny little dot with my Stampin' Write marker in Bashful Blue for the eye. I colored the tree branch stamp with my Stampin' Write markers in Close to Cocoa and the leaves in Certainly Celery.
I just have to take a second to share how much I LOVE my Stampin' Write Markers!! I purchased them over 5 years ago and they still work perfectly. I was not able to afford each color Stampin' ink pad so I went ahead and bought the entire Stampin' Write Markers set including every color. It is the best purchase I've made as far as stamping tools go. It seriously opened the doors to my creativity! Before I had the markers I was very limited with the few ink pads I had. Using the markers brush tip gives me the ability to stamp in any color I need, and I'm able to write my journaling or add detail with the writing tip matching or coordinating with any of the papers. It really is awesome! If you would like to be able to expand your stamping color choices you should definitely check out these markers (click here!)

Right now I'm working on a gift box to hold a few goodies to send off to the hostesses of the catalog parties. I'll post those soon.

Remember, even if you don't live close enough to have me come demonstrate in your home, you can always host a catalog party and still earn all the hostess benefits (click here to read more about hostess benefits)! Right now during the Sale-a-bration you can earn even more great goodies by hosting a party, plus your friends get to earn free stuff too! Just contact me through my Stampin' Up! website (click here) and I'll get all you need mailed out asap!

I hope you are enjoying your weekend!

Hi There!

Here's my first card as a Stampin' Up! demonstrator.


One thing I learned...I need a Stamp-a-ma-jig...I could not get the words straight! I tried 3 times and this was the best I could get, lol. Anyway, check out the cute paper I used! I just love blue and green. I often refer to them as "my colors." The paper is from the package you can receive free during the Sale-a-bration (click here for details.) Spend $50 and choose this set of 16 sheets of double-sided paper (4 each of 4 designs.) Colors that coordinate with this paper are Certainly Celery, So Saffron, Bashful Blue, and Sahara Sand. The So Saffron ribbon can also be earned during the Sale-a-bration. You can receive a ribbon bundle pack including 10 yards (5/8" wide) of both So Saffron and Certainly Celery. The So Saffron is grosgrain and Certain Celery is poly- twill. The label "Hi There" is stamped on is one of my favs. That comes from an awesome stamp set Frames with Flourish (click here to check it out.)

Ok, here's how it's done...
1)Cut Very Vanilla 9 1/2" x 4 3/4"
2)Fold in half like a hamburger creating a 4 3/4" square
3)Cut green Delicate Dots Designer Series Paper 4 1/2" x 4 1/4"
4)Punch down the shortest sides. (I used a punch I had lying around but I suggest using Stampin' Up's new Eyelet edge punch -click here to have a look- you're gonna love it! I ordered mine yesterday and can't wait to get my hands on it.)
5)Cut the multi colored dot Delicate Dots Designer Series Paper 3 1/4" x 4 1/4"
(If you want a shabby chic look, use an edge distressor or scissors to roughen up the edges.)
6)Stamp the label image on Bashful Blue cardstock and cut out
7)Stamp a sentiment from Fundamental Phrases (click here to see the set) In the center and straight if you are any better at it than I am, lol.
8)Use a sponge dauber and ink the edges of everything with Close to Cocoa
9)Attach the dotted paper to the green scallop edge paper
10)Tie a length of So Saffron ribbon around the left side of the dotted paper and attach a small Bashful Blue brad at the top and bottom edges
11)Attach label (I also curled up the corners of the dotted paper and curled up the scallops to finish off the shabby chic look.)
All done! So cute!

Remember the items you receive during Sale-a-bration are only offered until the end of March and will not be offered again. Don't miss out! Click here to read the details or click on the mini catalog cover in the left sidebar to see all the wonderful items you can earn!
And don't forget, right now you will receive a free Idea Book/Catalog with ANY online purchase. So go on over to the sidebar and click on the cute shopping button (or click here) and get yourself something fun.

I'm still waiting on a package from Stampin' Up! As soon as it arrives be on the look out for an awesome goodie give away!

Until next time,